Humidifying attachment for radiators



P. T. JACKSON. HUMIDIFYING ATTACHMENT FOR RADIATORS.

APPLICATION FILED SAN. 10, 1920. v 1,418,1 50. Patented M y'3m1922.

INVENTUR warren srarsssarnnr @EFEMZE.

I PHILIP T. JACKSON, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

HUMIDIFYING ATTACHMENT FOR RADIATOBS.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that'I, PHILIP 'T. JAoKsoN. of the city of Toronto,in'the'county of York, Province of Ontario, Canada, have inventedcertain new and useful Improve ments in Humidifying Attachments forBadiators, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to devices for increasing the quantity of watervapor held suspended in the air of buildings heated artificially andparticularly to devices for use in connection with heating means such ashot water and steam radiators to take advantage of the heat thereof toobtain efficient evaporation, and my object is to devise humidifyingmeans which will be as inconspicuous as possible, which will not occupyany valuable space, and which will possess very high efficiency, and inwhich the water containers shall be as nearly dust proof as possible.

I attain my object by means of the constructions hereinafter describedand illustrated in the accompanying drawings in V which Fig. 1 is afront elevation of a radiator, partly broken'away, provided with my improved humidifying attachment;

Fig. 2 an end view of the radiator partly broken away;

Fig. 3 an enlarged section through one of the troughs of the attachment,and the water supply conduit;

Fig. 4 is a front view of in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 a front view of one of the plates shown for supporting the rodfrom which the absorbent sheets are hung; and

Fig. 6 a plan view, of the water troughs the parts shown for a livesection radiator and the conduit to which they are connected.

In the'drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin the different figures.

In the drawings I show a radiator constructed as usual of a plurality ofsections 1, such sections being formed of a plurality of loops' asshown. 2is a water distributing conduit, which. may be connected with asource of supply in which a constant water level is maintained in anywell known manner but which is shown as connected with the water spaceof the radiator itself to draw its supply therefrom as hereinafterdescribed. This conduit communicates with Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed January 10, 1920. Serial No. 350,609.

and hooks 9 secured to the Patented May 30, 1922.

the rear ends of a plurality of troughs 3 adjacent their bottoms and isof small diameter relative to the height of said troughs. These troughsare narrow and high relative to their width, their length and otherproportions being such that they will extend through from the back orfront of the radiator, as the case may be, to a point adjacent the otheredges of-the radiator sections. The height of these troughs must besmall relative to .the' height of the radiator so as to providesufficient space above the tops to the troughs for the projection to a'suitable height of absorbent sheets as'hereinafter re ferred to.

While any suitable means may be pro-' vided to support the conduit andtroughs in position as shown above the nipples connects ing the radiatorsections, at any desired. level, I prefer to employ the constructionshown comprising an angle bar 4' lying against the rear edges oftheradiator sections and a bar 5 fitted" between the loops of thesections,said bars running lengthwise of the radiator and being secured togetherby bolts 6. The bars are thus easily adjusted to vary the verticalposition of the troughs and to level up the conduit whenever necessary.

Into each trough clips the lower part of a sheet 7 of suitable absorbentmaterial. Heavy blotting paper, with or without a reinforcement oftextile fabric, I find to be suitable for my purpose. If these sheetsare heavy enough and not too tall, I find that they may standunsupported in the troughs with their upper parts extendingsuflicientlyabove the same to form evaporating surfaces.

- These sheets should be in height at lea'st equal to the height towhich capillary action will raise the water. I

If the sheets of absorbent material are as high as stated and which isnecessary to secure a maximumof evaporating capacity, I find itpreferable to provide means for hanging them from-theupper'parts of theradiator sections. I show for this purpose a rod 8 connected with theradiator sections and extending from end to end of the radiator, upperends of the sheets 7. To form a suitable attachment for the hooks, Iprovide each of the sheets 7 with a metallic reinforcement or binding10. to which reinforcement the hooks are suitably secured. Each hook ispreferably provided with shoulders 1l andl2 at diflertion shownsatisfactory in most cases.

ent distances from the reinforcement so that each sheet may be heldsuspended at will in two different positions, either immersed in or justclear of the surface of the water.

The shoulders are preferably so positioned that each sheet may besuspended with its lower edge close to the bottom ofthe trough or withits lower edge raised above the water level in the trough.

While the rod 8 may be held in position in any suitable manner, I findthe construc- The rod passes between two loops of each radiator sectionand at each outer end is supported by two plates 13 and 14 which lierespectively against the inner and outer surfaces of the end sections ofthe radiator and are clamped against the same by bolts 15. When the rod8 is engaged with the lower shoulder of the hook 9 thus holding thesheetfree of the surface of the water, the sheet will still be retainedbetween the sides of its trough which thus act as guides when the sheetis lowered to dip into the water. It is desirable to exclude dust as faras possible from the water troughs 3. therefore contract the sides ofeach trough adjacent its upper edge as indicated at 18, so that thesides substantially contact with the sides of the absorbent sheet,sufficient space, however, being left to, permit of the introduction andwithdrawal of the absorbent sheets. As there is a possibility thatcontact of the upper edges of the trough with the sides of the absorbentsheetmight result in water drawn up by the capillary action of thesheets being transferred to the upper edges of the trough to flow downoutside the trough, I prefer to outwardly flare the upper edges of eachtrough as indicated at 19.

To facilitate the introduction of the lower edges of each sheet 7 intothe trough, I.

proportion the free end and the sides of each trough so that the sidesextend above the free end of the trough as shown particularly in Figs. 3and 4. If the lower part of the edge of the sheet be introduced betweenthe sides above the free end, the sheet is readily pushed into positionbetween the upstanding edges and is then readily dropped to itsoperative position within the trough and supported'by the rod 8.

To hold each sheet as far as possible out of contact with the radiatorsections, I preferably provide flanges 20 along the lower edges of themetal reinforcement 10 of each strip.

To facilitate the handling of the attachment and to avoid strain on theconnection betweenthe troughs and'the water conduit, I prefer to connectthe ends ofthe troughs adjacent :the conduit by means of a plate 21 towhich the troughs are soldered or otherwise suitably connected. .Thisplate an upward extension of an may in fact be I from which the conduitis integral sheet rolled.

In practice variations of the means for supporting the absorbent stripsand the troughs with their conduit will be necessary owing to variationsin the construction, divisions and arrangement of various radiators, andsuch variations would fall within the scope of anyinventioh.

The conduit 2 is shown as connected with the water space of one of theradiator sections by a pipe 22 in'which is located a valve 23, manuallycontrollable or otherwise, by means of which water may be supplied asneeded from the interior of the radiator to be evaporated in thehumidifying attachment. v

What I claim asmy invention is:-

1. The combination with a sectional radiator of a humidifying devicecomprising a water duet; a plurality of substantially parallel narrowtroughs each communicating at one end with the duct and. adapted to liebetween the sections of the radiator above the lower connect-ionsthereof. and sheets of absorbent material having their lower parts lyingin said troughs and extending above the same between the radiatorsections to form evaporating surfaces, said troughs being of smallheight relative tothe height of the radiator, and the height of saidtroughs also being small relative to the height to which capillaryaction will raise the water in the sheets.

2. The combination with a. sectional radiator of a humidifying devicecomprising a plurality of substantially parallel narrow troughs adaptedto lie botweenthe sections of the sectional radiator, said troughs beingof small. height relative to the height of the radiator; and a tubularduct of. small diameter relative to the height of the troughscommunicating with each trough at its end adjacent its bottom.

The combination with a sectional radiator of a humidifyingdevice'comprising a water duct; a narrow and relatively high troughcommunicating at one end'with-the duct; a sheet of absorbent materialhaving its lower part lying in said trough and its upper part extendingabove the same to form an evaporating surface, the side walls of thetrough extending above one end to permit of the sheets of absorbentmaterial being introduced between the side walls from said end.

4-. A humidifymg device comprising a avater duct; a narrow andrelatively high trough communicating at one end with the duct and havingfixed side walls; a sheet of absorbent material having its lower partlying in said trough and its upper part extending above the same to forman evaporating surface, the open top of the trough 1i being formed as anarrow slot substantially only of sufficient width for the passage ofthe absorbent sheet whereby dust is excluded from the trough.

5. A humidifying device constructed as set forth in claim 4 in which theupper, edges of the side walls of the trough are outwardly flared toprevent water from the absorbent sheet passing down outside the walls ofthe trough.

6. The combination with a sectional radiator of a water duct extendingparallel to the length of the radiator; a plurality of narrow troughseach communicating at one end with the duct and extending be tween theradiator sections, said troughs being of small height relative to theheight of the radiator; a plurality of sheets of absorbent material, onefor each trough, dipping into said troughs and extending above the sameto form evaporating surfaces, the height of said sheets being at leastequal to the height to which capillary action will raise the water; ametallic re-inforcement for the top of each sheet; a hook connected toeach reinforcement; and a rod supported on and extending lengthwise ofthe radiator on which said hooks may be hung. 1

7. A humidifying device constructed as set forth in claim 6 in whicheach hook is constructed to engage the rod in either of two positions tosupport the corresponding absorbent sheet with its lower part extendingmore or less into its trough.

8. A humidifying device comprising a plurality of substantially parallelnarrow troughs adapted to lie between the sections of a sectionalradiator; a late to which each trough is attached an which forms one endof each trough; and a tubular duct of small height relative to theheight of the plate andconnected therewith, said duct communicating withthe troughs.

9. A humidifying device comprising a water duet; a narrow and relativelyhigh trough communicating at one end with the duct and having parallelvertical side walls; a sheet of absorbent material having its lower partlying in said trough and its upper part extending above the same to forman evaporating surface, the side walls of the trough adjacent the upperedges thereof being offset inwardly to come close to the sides of theabsorbent sheet whereby dust is excluded from the trough.

Signed at Toronto this 26th day of December 1919.

PHILIP T. JACKSON.

